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Hot Fun in the Summertime
By Melissa Miller
If you’re like me, you escape the summer heat by taking more
baths and showers. The first thing I do when I walk in the
door from the hot outdoors is turn on the shower to cold. Well, technically this is the second thing I do; my first task
is to crank the air conditioner up to "maximum cool" and hope
I don’t blow a fuse.
This summer I’m going to be ready with
many refreshing bath and body items to pamper myself so I may
quickly regain my “cool”. Here are some products that can help
you survive and thrive during summer weather.
Take a Cold Shower (Please)
It’s imperative to stand under a cool blast of water and wash
away that sweaty, hectic day.
To add some zing to this process try
Carol’s Daughter
Body Cleansing Gel ($10 for 8oz,
$17.50 for 16 oz.), composed of a gentle blend of castile soap
and aloe vera.
 My favorite cool-down Body Cleansing Gel is
Pineapple Watermelon, a delicious perk-me-up that will turn
your shower into a tropical waterfall. Well, maybe not a
waterfall (especially in my microscopic bathroom), but hey, a
girl can pretend!
Another refreshing shower wash is the
somewhat pricey Bliss Lemon and Sage Soapy Sap Shower Gel
(about $28 at
Blissworld.com).
This provides a refreshing lemony lather for those steamy
mornings when it’s already 80 degrees at 7:00 AM. For
delicate, light, fruity scented suds, try
Avon.com Naturals Shower Gel in Pear ($2.99 for 5oz).
You’re Soaking in It
And I don’t mean Palmolive, Madge. I have made it through many
a summer swelter by soaking in a cool tub with scented
candles, mood music and the perfect, soothing bath treatment.
Aubrey
Organics Camomile Bubbles Herbal Bath Oil ($7.25
for 8oz) is an all-natural, gentle, tranquil bubbly soak
that will bring your temperature down. And you won’t want to
leave the bath when you experience Get Fresh
Skinny Dip Mandarin Ginger Bath Salts (about $17 for 16oz at
eBubbles.com). Zesty mandarin orange and ginger
will rejuvenate your spirits; you’ll forget all about that
nasty humidity.
Unwind after a heated day of work with Heavenly Scents Soap Company Refreshing Mint Twist Fizzy ($3.50 for 7oz). Your tub will
be full of fizzing, inviting waters scented in peppermint,
eucalyptus and rosemary essential oils, with peppermint
leaves.
Fizzies are available in a variety of scents and
artful shapes, and made with epsom or finely ground sea salt,
sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), coconut oil, dried flowers
and herbs, or ground almond and oatmeal powder.
Show Some (Exfoliated) Skin
Perlier’s exhilarating
Kiwi Energy Body Scrub ($24.50 for 16.8oz) is a hot
weather must-have. The unique, juicy kiwi scent is
invigorating, and will have you up and at ‘em. It sloughs off
dead skin, so your skin will be soft, silky and primed
for that self-tanning treatment. Use this in the morning with
the matching Kiwi Shower Gel  ($17.50 for 8.4oz, $25 for 16.8oz) and there will be no stopping you.
Give yourself a spa
style beauty treatment with Ahava Deep
Sea Body Mud ($25 for 2.2lbs). The black mud in the mask is
rich in nourishing minerals and deep cleans and exfoliates,
leaving your skin smooth, glowing and ready for show in
revealing summer wear. Ahava.com
The Soft Touch
Moisturizing in the summer can be tough. Heat, humidity and
emollient body lotions often don’t go well together. Standing
in front of the air conditioner while waiting for body lotion
to absorb is not most people’s idea of a good time.
Spray-on
body lotions offer a quick and easy fix for summer skin
hydration. Neutrogena Rainbath Moisturizing Body Mist
Spray-On Lotion ($5.99 for 8 oz.)
provides a light, cool mist of moisture with a delicate citrus
scent. Scented body lotions work double-duty on summer skin as
they provide moisture and all over fragrance for the scantily
clad.
Speziali Fiorentini by Derbe Ultra Rich Body Cream
($19 for 5oz at MarvelousYou.com) in Green Tea (a
crisp, clean herbal aroma) and in Citrus Blend (a warm mix of
lemon, orange, tangerine, citron and bergamot) will have you
feeling as if you’re cruising around the Mediterranean. The
body cream is moisturizing yet absorbs immediately making it a
wonderful summer choice.
For a seaside vacation in a bottle,
try 155 South Luxury Apothecary Marine Body Cream ($22 for 8oz
at
FourSeasonsProducts.com). This
fragrant moisturizer has an intoxicating, fresh, blue ocean
scent with soft citrus undertones. It’s also available in
Peony, Casablanca Lily, Melon, Pink Grapefruit and Orange
Vanilla.
Get your glow on with Madame Renaud Naturals Glow Lotion for Face and Body ($8 for 4oz). The lotion is all
natural and contains mica to give a sexy, sparkly shimmer to
your bare arms, legs, shoulders, back and décolletage.
Available at MadameRenaud.com.
Take a Powder
Another way to beat the heat and keep your skin dry and
smelling sweet is to use scented body powders.
Chandler's Soaps makes
lovely, Talc-Free Scented Body Powder with a natural mix of
cornstarch, arrowroot and china clay. Mint, Ylang-Ylang,
Lemon, Lime, Patchouli and Orange Spice are a few delectable
scents offered in these silky powders ($7.50 for 6oz) at
ChandlersSoaps.com.
Kiehls
also has Talc-Free Body Powder ($13 for 1.3oz) in a variety
of fragrances; popular summer picks are Cucumber, Moroccan
Jasmine, Tea Rose, Chinese Flowers and Grapefruit.
Kiehls.com
You’ll be Smelling like a Rose
Perfume tends to wear off more quickly in the summer time.
Most eau de toilettes simply do not cut it, as the alcohol
evaporates due to the high temperature. For staying power try
perfume oils and solid perfumes.
The Soap Opera offers a large selection of Perfume Oils ($4.95 for 1
dram/.125 oz., $7.95 for 2 dram/.25 oz.) with serious staying
power. Favorites are China Rain, Mimosa, Cucumber and
Wisteria.
 Creative Scentualization
Perfect Veil Perfume Oil ($25 for 1/8 oz., $58 for 1/3 oz.) is
my summer standard, with its fresh skin-out-of-the-shower
aroma and notes of lemon, bergamot, sandalwood, vanilla and
musk.
Creative Scentualization is the creation of perfumer
Sarah Horowitz. Her Perfect Perfumes and custom-blends are
favorites among celebrities and the rest of us mere mortals.
Solid Perfumes are perfect for travel and tend to last a
bit longer on the skin since they don’t contain alcohol.
L’Occitane
Lemon Verbena Solid Perfume
($9 for .25 oz.) is an affordable summer scent favorite. Solid
Perfume is also available in Neroli Rose, Orange Blossom,
Lotus Flower, Green Tea, Amber and Vanilla.
Body sprays kept
in the refrigerator then spritzed all over the body are an
icy, refreshing treat. Try
Calgon Hawaiian Ginger Body Mist ($6.95 for 8 oz.), a heavenly mix of
pineapple, melons, jasmine, rose, ginger musk and sweet
vanilla.
Calgon Body Mist is also available in Cool Sunshower,
Fresh Sorbet, Hawaiian Ginger, Pear Essence, Morning Glory,
Peach, In the Rain, Moon Petal Musk and Turquoise Seas.
For a
scent that’s designed just for you, have
Cottage Shoppe custom-scent a
Body Mist ($4.65
for 4 oz.) in any one or combination of 150 scents. Summer
best sellers are Jasmine and Green Tea, Coco-Lime Cooler,
Mandarin and Vanilla, Lemon Ginger, Summer Musk and
Blackberry Sage Tea.
Give some of these cooling treatments a try. With the right
products you can face the heat with a smile and know you are
looking good.
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